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Sometimes leaders have to say what people don’t want to hear. If you’re the face of the franchise, that means calling out bad play.
The Sixers were humiliated during a 137-106 loss on Monday to the Miami Heat. The defeat was the team’s third straight loss and fourth straight road loss dating back to Jan. 22. Philadelphia now has a dismal 9-18 record in away games, compared to a 22-2 mark at home for the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Perhaps more alarming than the loss itself was the fact the Sixers looked overmatched and were bullied all night, particularly by their former star guard Jimmy Butler who went for a season-high 38 points in 29 minutes.
After the game, Ben Simmons didn’t mince words when he called the Sixers “soft” and added that you have to “hit ‘em in the face.” Their lack of physicality isn’t boding well for a lengthy playoff run.
“We were soft,” Simmons told reporters, via NBC Sports Philadelphia. ““Don’t get bullied, fight over screens, get through screens. You’ve gotta knock somebody, knock ‘em over. You’ve gotta hit somebody in the face and knock ‘em down, make sure they don’t score, hit ‘em in the face.”
Simmons had 16 points in this one, along with eight rebounds and seven assists in 34 minutes. Joel Embiid did his best to keep the team afloat as he dominated in the paint en route to 29 points and 12 rebounds in 33 minutes. It wasn’t enough. Especially not with Tobias Harris (six points) and Al Horford (six points) disappearing for long stretches.
Mike Scott: ‘We Just Got Smacked’
Mike Scott has been rumored to be on the trading block ahead of Thursday’s deadline. On Monday, the Sixers sharp-shooting forward had no answers for the team’s poor play. Like Ben Simmons, he kept it real.
“We just got smacked. We got beat,” Scott told reporters.
How do the Sixers break out of their three-game losing streak?
“Do better, do better than the last games,” Scott said. “It’s been the story all year for us. We gotta figure it out. We played soft tonight.”
Simmons Called Sixers ‘Soft’ Last Year
Last January, Jimmy Butler took offense when Ben Simmons used the word “soft” to describe a lackluster Sixers’ performance. The All-Star guard was sent to the Miami Heat in June after the Sixers agreed to a sign-and-trade that netted them Josh Richardson.
In 2019, after a loss to the Atlanta Hawks, Butler appeared angry that Simmons would challenge his teammates like that. It definitely didn’t sit well with him.
“I just don’t think that we did what we were supposed to do,” Butler said in 2019. “I wouldn’t say that anybody is soft. I just think that we got beat in every aspect of the game.”
The current Sixers will take a few days before returning to action on Feb. 6 in another road game, this time in Milwaukee. Will they have an updated roster by then? It’s very possible as the NBA trade deadline is set for 3 p.m. on Feb. 6 and the Sixers are heavily linked to a myriad of moves. Their biggest area of need is a wing player who can shoot threes and defend the perimeter.
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